Just Admit it
by Tripoqgirl
Summary: (Post-war Zutara.) Katara and Zuko obviously like each other, but neither will admit it to themselves or the Gaang. They're a bit clueless about their mutual attraction, but Toph knows just what to do. She's going to give them a little push.
1. Chapter 1: Turtleducks

Katara sat on the steps of the fire palace courtyard. She was bored. Zuko and Aang were practicing their firebending, and she and Toph had nothing better to do than sit and watch. Well, Toph had nothing better to do than sit and keep Katara company. Sokka was doing a painting of Zuko and Aang firebending that was… interesting. If by interesting you meant bad.

It had been several months since Ozai's defeat, and Zuko was Firelord now. He had a lot of duties, but he had decided to continue training Aang in firebending. After the war, Suki had gone back to Kyoshi island, Katara and Sokka had gone back to the southern water tribe, Toph had visited her parents, and Aang had gone to one of the air temples to get over his and Katara's break up. Katara, Toph, Aang, and Sokka were visiting the fire palace for a few weeks. It was their first day, and Katara was already bored. She and Aang weren't really talking, Zuko was always busy, and Toph and Sokka were taking it easy. There didn't seem to be much to do at the fire palace.

Katara sighed. Why had she kissed Aang? She'd been thinking about it a lot, and was now certain she didn't have feeling for him. Maybe when he was older a relationship would be possible. But he was so young. Not even 13 yet. He was more like a younger brother to her than anything else. After he defeated Ozai, she had been caught up in the moment. He was the avatar. He liked her. She'd thought maybe she liked him back. But after that first kiss, it had just felt too weird. Afterwards she had realized what a mistake it had been, but it was too late. The damage was done. She'd told him how she felt, and he hadn't taken it very well. They had barely talked since then, and she still felt a little awkward being around him.

All this sitting around was getting Katara nowhere. She wanted to actually do something. Anything.

She stood up. "I'm going to the pond. I want to practice my bending."

"Whatever you say, sweetness," Toph replied, leaning back against a pillar.

As she walked away, Katara heard Sokka asking Toph what she thought of his painting. Toph complimented it extravagantly, a habit she'd acquired recently. Katara smiled a little to herself. At least Sokka and Toph had found a way to amuse themselves.

She walked over to the pond and began going through some simple waterbending techniques that she'd already mastered but hadn't practiced in a while. After a few minutes, some curious turtleducks swam up to her, and she let the water she'd been using flow back into the pond. She sat down at the edge and studied the birds.

"I don't have any food for you," she said, reaching out a hand anyways.

One of the birds came up to her, and she pet its head.

She smiled. "You're a cute little guy, aren't you."

She sensed movement and glanced behind her. Zuko was standing there, but when she looked up he pretended he hadn't been watching her. He stood in silence for a few seconds.

"Do you want to feed them?" Zuko asked awkwardly, breaking the silence.

She smiled and nodded.

"I'll be right back." He walked away to get a loaf of bread. As soon as he was out of sight and earshot, he hit his palm against his forehead, chiding himself. "Stupid!"

Why had he been watching her? She hadn't even been doing anything special. And why did he feel embarrassed? It wasn't like he'd been checking her out. Well… he sort of had been. He hit himself again.

He shouldn't have felt guilty. He and Mai were over. He knew she had loved him in her own way, but it hadn't been enough. He couldn't love her the way she needed, and her gloominess had heightened his own. They had loved each other, but they weren't right for each other, and it hadn't worked out. He was allowed to look at other girls.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Mai wasn't here anymore. And okay, he had been checking Katara out, but only because she looked so nice in fire nation clothing. And any clothing. And…

But he wasn't supposed to be thinking that. Katara was his friend. He shouldn't be thinking about her like that. Even if she was pretty.

He got the bread and returned to the pond, sitting down next to Katara. He broke off half of it and handed it to her, not letting himself look at her. He was careful not to touch her fingers with his own.

Katara took the bread and smiled at him. "Thanks."

They crumbled the bread in their fingers and tossed it to the turtleducks. After a moment Katara glanced at Zuko. He was smiling, and he looked happy. He looked gloomy so often; it was nice to see him happy.

His hair was pulled up in a fire nation headpiece, and she wasn't sure if she liked it better like that, or down. Either way he was really cute.

No. She couldn't think like that. Zuko was her friend. She shouldn't be thinking about him like that. Even if he was cute.


	2. Chapter 2: Alone

After that first day, feeding the turtleducks after Zuko and Aang's practices became a part of Katara and Zuko's daily routine. Sometimes they would talk, and occasionally they would sit silently, but no matter what they did they both enjoyed it.

On the sixth day after the first time they had fed the turtleducks, Zuko didn't come. Katara sat by the pond and waited for a while, but he must've been at a meeting, because he didn't show up.

She hadn't realized how much she enjoyed feeding the turtleducks with him until then. How much she enjoyed spending time with him. He could be quirky and awkward, but she really didn't mind. She liked talking with him. As often as he said he had no idea what he was talking about, he actually had a lot of interesting ideas, and their conversations were always interesting. And his voice, she really liked his voice.

…Because it was interesting. She didn't find it attractive. She didn't. She _didn't_.

* * *

><p>Zuko was bored, but trying to look interested. He was at a meeting for… something. He should've known, but he hadn't really been paying attention when they'd told him. He'd been thinking about how he'd have to miss feeding the turtleducks with Katara.<p>

He'd rather be talking to her than listening to his advisors droning on and on. He hadn't realized how much he liked talking to her until then. She was such an optimist. He wished he could have the same faith in the world that she had. And her eyes. They were so wise, yet retained an innocence that his didn't have. He wanted to just gaze into her eyes for a long time.

… Because they were nice. _Not_ because he felt like they truly saw him, past his scar. Just because they were nice.

* * *

><p>Toph felt Katara moping around the courtyard and walked up to her.<p>

"What are you all mopey about? ZuZu didn't show up for your date?" she teased.

Katara felt heat rushing to her cheeks. "We haven't been going on dates!"

"_Right_…" Toph replied, smirking.

"We haven't!" Katara insisted.

But all the times they'd been feeding the turtleducks had been sort of like dates.

_No_, Katara thought to herself. _They _weren't_ dates_. But she wasn't quite sure if she believed that.


	3. Chapter 3: Awkwardness

The next day, after practicing with Aang, Zuko went over to the pond. Katara was already there, and when he sat down she looked up at him, unable to hide her smile. He smiled too, and they both quickly looked away, pretending they weren't as glad to see each other as they were.

He made himself look at her, trying not to smile so much and trying not to think about how pretty she looked when she smiled.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it yesterday, I had a meeting."

"It's okay."

He held out half the bread. As she took it, her fingers brushed his. Their hands tingled and they both pulled back, the bread falling to the ground between them. They reached for it at the same moment, and their hand met again.

Almost without thinking, Zuko closed his hand over Katara's. He looked up at her face, but her eyes remained fixed on their hands. On an impulse, he reached out with his other hand to touch her face, but right before it reached her skin, she seemed to snap out of her trance. She blushed and pulled her hand from his. He pulled his other hand away, embarrassed and wondering why he'd closed his hand over hers and reached out to touch her face. He shouldn't have, and he certainly hadn't planned to.

Blushing profusely, Katara stood up hastily and ran into the palace. She didn't know what else to do. The thing that had just happened had definitely meant something, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know what. She heard him call out something to her, but the blood was pounding through her ears too loudly to understand it. As she ran she tried to banish the thoughts of Zuko from her mind, but try as she might she couldn't stop her hand from tingling where he'd grasped it.

As Katara ran from the courtyard, Zuko hit his palm against his forehead. "Stupid!"

Why had he done that? He shouldn't have tried to touch her hand, let alone her face! He tried not to think about how nice it had felt to hold her hand, but he couldn't stop his traitorous hand from tingling where it had touched hers.


	4. Chapter 4: Reflecting

Katara shut herself in her room and wouldn't come out for the rest of the day. Zuko came by and apologized through the door several times, but she didn't respond. After the fourth or fifth time he decided to just leave her alone. That seemed to be what she wanted.

* * *

><p>Katara heard his apologies, but she wouldn't answer. She didn't know what to say. What had happened had been embarrassing, yes, but not awful. In fact, as it replayed again and again in her mind, she found herself wanting to feel his hand on hers again. She shoved the thought aside. She was being silly. She didn't want him to touch her. She <em>didn't<em>. She didn't.

But it was getting harder and harder for her to make herself believe that that was true.

* * *

><p>Zuko had another meeting that night, but he had the same problem as before. He couldn't concentrate because he was thinking of Katara. He hoped he hadn't screwed up too badly. He wondered if she'd ever talk to him again. Why had he touched her? He should've pulled away, should've ignored the tingles in his hand. But the thing he hated the most was that he had liked it. That he wanted to do it again. He told himself he wouldn't. He couldn't. That if something like that happened again, he would pull away.<p>

But he wasn't sure if he believed that was true.


	5. Chapter 5: Lake

The next morning was awkward. Zuko half expected Katara to stay in her room, but when he went to the pond she was there. She wouldn't look at him, and he didn't blame her. He knew he had screwed up, but he hoped that she would forgive him.

He sat down further than usual from her. He took her half of the bread and placed on the ground near her, not wanting to risk touching her hand again.

Her gaze dropped to the bread, and she took it, still avoiding Zuko's eyes. She began to feed the turtleducks, but he just sat there, trying not to watch her.

"I'm sorry." He said, glancing at the bread in his hands.

"It's okay."

"I didn't-"

"It's _okay_. _Really_. Let's not talk about it." She said. She continued to look at the turtleducks. She could feel his intense gaze on her, and she didn't want to meet it.

They didn't talk for the rest of their date. (For although neither of them would admit it, that's what it was.) But the silence wasn't comfortable like usual. It was awkward.

* * *

><p>Later that day the gaang decided to go swimming. It was getting hotter out, and they could all use a break from the heat and the palace.<p>

They'd all been so busy, it was hard to believe they'd only been there for 9 days. Sokka had made 26 paintings, Toph had been practicing her metalbending, Aang had been practicing his fire bending, Katara had been practicing her waterbending, and Zuko had had too many boring meetings. They all agreed that they were ready for a break.

* * *

><p>The ride to the lake was awkward for Katara. They were riding on Appa, so they were all pretty close to each other. She made sure to sit as far away from Zuko as she could. She didn't want to risk anything happening.<p>

Toph noticed. "Did you and Sugar Queen have a fight?" she asked Zuko jokingly.

"No."

But he wasn't sure if that was true.

* * *

><p>Katara was glad to get off of Appa and away from Zuko, and it was nice to be near a larger body of water again. She dove into the water. Swimming had never failed to make her feel better before, why shouldn't it work now?<p>

Toph practiced her sandbending while Sokka made a sand sculpture that was supposed to be Momo but looked more like a blob. Zuko sat on the beach, watching Katara swim but pretending not to. Aang was also in the water, but was staying a respectful distance from Katara.

Aang knew he still liked Katara, but their friendship was more important to him than his crush. He had been trying to mend their friendship the last couple of days, and the awkwardness between them was slowly dissolving. He had noticed that she had been spending a lot of time with Zuko, and he couldn't help feeling a little bit jealous. He looked at the beach. Sure enough, Zuko was watching Katara. He felt a pang of jealousy, but pushed it down. It would do him no good, and although he had seen signs, he had no proof that Katara and Zuko had feelings for each other. He went back to swimming.

* * *

><p>As Zuko sat watching Katara, Toph crept up behind him. "You're staring at her, aren't you?"<p>

He jumped in surprise. "What! No! No." He blushed. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you have been sitting in the same spot for 15 minutes looking in the direction of the water. I assume you're looking at Katara."

"No, I'm not. I just like looking at the lake."

"Toph's right. Why have you been staring at Katara?"

Zuko jumped again. Where had Sokka come from?

"I wasn't-"

"So how long have you two been dating?" Toph interrupted Zuko's protests.

"We're not-"

"Wait! You're dating my sister!?"

"No!"

"Why don't you join her in the water?!" Toph said mischievously, launching Zuko into the air with a column of sand.

He flew through the air and landed in the middle of the lake rather badly, the wind knocked out of his lungs. He tried to kick his way up to the surface, but had already swallowed too much water. He tried to keep his eyes open, but he was beginning to black out.


	6. Chapter 6: Rescue

"What was that?" Katara asked, alarmed. She looked in the direction the sound of the splash had come from. No one was there. She dove to look underwater. Zuko!

Forgetting her decision not to go near him, Katara swam as fast as she could towards him, then dragged his body to the surface. She waterbended the air out of his lungs, then began pulling him to shore on her back so that he could breathe. Halfway there Zuko regained consciousness. He coughed out what water remained, and Katara stopped swimming and turned towards him to check if he was okay.

This was a mistake.

She had been dragging him on her back to keep his head above the water, and his arms were still wrapped around her. By turning around, she had put her face right next to his bare chest. She tried to pull away, but in his groggy state he didn't realize he was supposed to let go. She pushed against his chest, trying not to let his closeness distract her.

"Zuko. Let go."

He slumped towards her.

"No, let go." She pushed harder.

Finally understanding, he let his arms fall and she moved back.

"Are you okay? Do you think you can swim the rest of the way to shore?"

"…Yes."

She grabbed his arm and began to swim. He followed, and soon they were at the shore. He sat down on the sand, and she began to check if he had damaged anything, careful not to let her fingers linger on him.

"What were you thinking? You should've been more careful!" she scolded.

"Actually, Toph was the one who flung him into the water." Sokka said.

"How was I supposed to know it would hurt him?" Toph said indignantly. "He's fine, so leave me alone."

Aang came up onto the shore. "What's happening?"

"Toph nearly drowned Zuko." Katara replied, pulling away from Zuko. "I checked and nothing's broken. He'll be fine."


	7. Chapter 7: Trapped

After the beach incident, most of the awkwardness between Zuko and Katara slipped away. He'd realized that she wasn't mad at him, and being so close to him at the beach made touching hands seem relatively harmless.

She was watching Zuko and Aang firebending, which she hadn't done since their first day at the palace. Well, she was watching Zuko. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and she could see the scar he'd got protecting her from Azula. She'd been thinking about that day a lot. After he had saved her and she'd healed him, they had had a moment. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew that they had had a moment. There had been more before and since, but the most recent ones had been when he'd touched her hand and when he'd regained consciousness after she'd saved him.

She wouldn't let herself define what she meant by a moment, but she knew that it meant something that she had had so many with Zuko.

* * *

><p>Every once in a while Zuko would glance at Katara. He noticed how she looked at his scar. The scar he'd gotten protecting her from Azula's lightning bolt. He'd been thinking about that day a lot recently. It hadn't been the first time he'd rushed to protect her without thinking. At the temple he'd pushed her out of the way of falling rocks. He hadn't even thought, he'd just protected her. He would always protect her.<p>

And she had protected him, too. She'd healed him that night, and she'd saved him from drowning. He knew that she cared about him, but he wasn't sure if it was how he cared about her.

* * *

><p>"So, you're not dating Zuko, huh?" Toph asked Katara, elbowing her in the ribs.<p>

"No." Katara said.

"Then why have you been staring at him this whole time?"

Katara blushed. "I wasn't!"

"_Right_. Because pointing your head at one boy for 20 minutes means you're _not_ staring at him."

* * *

><p>After he and Aang finished firebending, Zuko sat down on the steps near Katara. "Want to feed the turtleducks?"<p>

"Sure."

Toph walked silently behind them as they walked to the pond, shaking her head. This wouldn't do. It looked like she was going to have to force them to recognize that they both liked each other. Honestly, she wasn't sure how it was even possible that they hadn't noticed yet. It was so obvious. It was like they were the only ones who _didn't_ notice it. Even Aang could tell, and he was horrible at reading people's emotions! Zuko could be pretty clueless sometimes, so his not noticing was almost understandable, but Katara not noticing? That was just sad.

"Oh my god, just kiss already!"

Katara and Zuko both spun around, blushing furiously.

"What?!"

"Just admit it already, you like each other! It's so obvious! I'm _blind_ and I can tell you two have googly eyes for each other."

"No we don't!" Katara insisted.

"We're just friends!" Zuko protested.

Toph sighed. She cracked her knuckles. "Looks like you're gonna have to do this the hard way."

She earthbent blocks of Earth around Zuko and Katara's wrists, using them to drag them closer to each other despite their protests. She used her bending to pull at their bindings until Katara's arms were trapped around Zuko's neck and Zuko's arms were trapped around Katara's waist. Toph created an earth tent around them both, pushing them even closer together. They were trapped.

"Let us out right now, Toph!" Katara yelled angrily. "This is _not_ funny!"

"Are you kidding? This is hilarious! And I'm not letting you out until tonight, so you'd better talk about you feelings. Maybe if you admit that you like each other this won't have to happen again."

"Toph!" Katara yelled. But she knew it was hopeless. She could already hear Toph walking away. She looked away from the wall and found her face right next to Zuko's. She hadn't realized how close he was. She was only inches away from him, and he didn't even have a shirt on. Toph hadn't left much room in the Earth tent, and neither of them could really move. She was going to be right next to Zuko for quite awhile. This was not a good situation.

Zuko looked at Katara and realized how close she was. "Well… this is awkward."


	8. Chapter 8: Admitting

"So… are we gonna… you know… talk about our feelings?" Zuko asked. They had been trapped in the earth tent for a while now, and it had been completely silent.

Katara sighed and looked away from the wall and at him. It was easier not to get flustered if she wasn't looking right into his face. "I guess so."

"I… uh, think you're… pretty."

"Um, thank you?"

"But that's not why I like you. No, wait- that came out wrong. I don't-"

"You like me!?"

Zuko sighed. He might as well admit it. "…Yes. A lot, actually."

She blushed, and looked away. "I… I like you, too. …A lot."

She looked up at him. "Is it going to be awkward between us now?"

He shrugged, her bindings around his neck inadvertently pulling her closer to him. But she didn't pull away.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. So… what now?"

Zuko resisted the urge to shrug. "I guess we're stuck here until Toph lets us out."

Katara let out an exasperated sound. Her head slumped forward in frustration, her forehead brushing Zuko's chest by accident. She could feel him tense up and began to pull away, but he pulled her closer. She gave in, leaning against him, her cheek against his chest.

"We're only doing this because we're going to be trapped here for a while and this is more comfortable."

"Right," Zuko agreed without much conviction.

It _was_ more comfortable, but they both knew that wasn't the only reason they were so close.


	9. Chapter 9: Released

"Where's Katara?" Aang asked, looking around. "I haven't seen her since this morning."

"Yeah, and Zuko's missing, too," Sokka added. "Have you seen them, Toph?"

"No, I haven't _seen_ them."

"You know what I mean!" Sokka responded. "Do you know where they are?"

"…No."

"Just tell us, Toph!" Aang said. "I can tell that you know!"

"Fine! Follow me."

* * *

><p>"Why are they in an earth tent!?" Aang yelled.<p>

"Well, nothing was happening, and I was getting bored. And besides, they wouldn't admit that they liked each other! I was getting sick of them pretending that they were just friends! No one is that cluless."

"What! You… you can't just force them to be together! I'm letting them out right now!"

"Fine with me, twinkletoes. I could feel them being all cuddly before they heard your yelling, so my plan obviously worked. There's no reason for them to be in there anymore, except that it's funny. But if you must, let them out."

Fuming, Aang used his earthbending to push the pieces of the tent back into the ground.

bending their bindings away from their wrists, he glared again at Toph. How could she?! Katara was… _not_ his girlfriend. She was free to make her own choices. But he still wished she'd chosen him. He glared at Zuko, jealousy flaring through him.

"I need to go meditate!" He yelled angrily. He didn't want to see either of them. As he stormed off, he heard Katara call out to him, but he ignored her. He didn't want to be comforted by her. It would only remind him that she'd chosen someone else.


	10. Chapter 10: Finally

The morning after the earth tent incident Aang didn't show up to practice his fire bending, so Zuko went straight to the pond and sat down next to Katara.

"So…" He said. "Should we talk about what happened yesterday?"

Katara sighed. "Yes, we probably should."

He hesitated, then reached out his hand and took hers. Heat rushed to her cheeks, but she didn't pull away.

She looked at their intertwined fingers. "I know that we both… have feelings for each other. But I don't know if I'm ready for anything serious, and I don't want to ruin our friendship."

"Well, we could try it."

"Try what?"

"This." He lifted her chin so that she was looking into his eyes. "Us. Together."

She looked away. "I don't know. I don't want to hurt you. What if it doesn't work?"

He turned her head back towards him. "What if it does?"

She turned away from him. Thinking he'd upset her, he pulled his hand from hers and started to get up. "I'm sorry."

Before he could stand she pulled him back down. She pulled him towards her so that they were only inches apart.

"Wha-"

Her lips met his, cutting him off. He froze, eyes wide with surprise. She was _kissing_ him! She was kissing him, and he liked it.

He returned her kiss, pulling her closer to him until they were touching. He wrapped his arms around her as she tangled her fingers through his now messy and undone hair. So this was what it felt like to kiss Katara. It was the best feeling in the world.

He hoped this would be the first of many kisses he would share with her.


End file.
